-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Four years ago , Brandon Stanton became New York City 's unofficial photo-chronicler . With his blog , Humans of New York -- which has over eight million followers on social media -- he has captured the heart and soul of the city 's multi-national inhabitants .

His trademark -- the micro narratives that accompany each image -- has been imitated in the far reaches of the globe , from Sydney to Khartoum .

Last month , he turned his lens , and poignant interview style , to the world at large . In partnership with the United Nations , he is touring roughly a dozen countries in a bid to raise awareness for the peacekeeping organization 's Millennium Development Goals . His first stop : Iraq and Jordan .

` My eyes were opened '

Though his trip was `` months in the works , '' Stanton did n't anticipate that his arrival in Erbil , Iraq would coincide with that of ISIS . The first people he questioned were Yazidi refugees who had only freshly fled their homes , their families , their lives as a whole .

`` My idea of what constitutes personal tragedy has been expanded a lot just listening to what these people are going through , '' admits Stanton .

For the Yazidis he approached -- from the student who had to abandon his long sought after Master 's degree to flee bombs to the mother whose children ca n't stop crying for home -- Stanton found himself falter at the prospect of pursuing his traditional line of questioning .

`` When you 've just abandoned your house , and your family is surrounded by a hostile army , and you do n't know if they 're going to survive , it 's just inappropriate to ask what your happiest memory with your mother is , '' he says .

`` I felt I could n't ask them beyond their present circumstances , because their lives were absolutely consumed by those circumstances . ''

` Pack a bag and get ready to run '

The day Stanton landed in Iraq , ISIS captured the Mosul Dam . The day he left , the United States started air strikes . His time there , he admits , was often terrifying .

`` When I was in Dohuk , there was a moment I got a call in the middle of the night from UNICEF telling to pack a bag and get ready to run , because ISIS was shelling the town and had broken through the lines , '' he recalls .

`` It was an abundance of caution it turned out , but it was a sleepless night . ''

It was one of many moments , he admits , when he appreciated what it means to feel secure .

`` I went to this place where all people wanted was a bit of security : to send their kids to school , to start a business , to get married and live a normal life . And I realized that in the absence of physical security , no other layers of life can really be experienced , '' he says .

`` That constant uncertainty seeps into your psyche in a way that you ca n't really pinpoint until you go back to a place that is secure . ''

For Stanton , that place was Jordan .

`` I really noticed when I landed in Jordan , where the infrastructures was in place and there was no imminent threat , that there was a load lifted from my psyche , '' he says .

The stories he heard were different as well . The tenor , though often still heart-breaking -LRB- he visited Zaatari Refugee Camp that houses around 80,000 Syrians -RRB- , demonstrated a lighter side of the human character . In the absence of immediate danger , there was hope .

`` The other thing this trip has made me realize is the depth of ambition , particularly in underdeveloped countries , '' he says .

`` Everybody I talked to had such big dreams , and often such limited opportunities with which to achieve those dreams . ''

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Brandon Stanton launched Humans of New York blog

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Partnering with U.N. , he 's on a world tour that started in Iraq and Jordan

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His mini narratives reveal the struggles and dreams of ordinary people